Seven little-known things about me

My cousin Heather tagged me, so here is my list:

1. I love to eat vegetables, but I hate shopping for and cooking them.

2. I cannot multitask at all. It's even distracting for me to focus on looking people in the eye if I'm trying to talk to or listen to them at the same time. When I talk on the phone, I can't clean up a room at the same time and still really listen to what you're saying. And don't try to talk to me when I'm playing cards, unless you want the game to last twice as long as it should!

3. I like my name more than any other name. I would have given my daughter my name if I didn't already have it!

4. My favorite book of the Bible is Job (because it teaches that God welcomes us to question Him; I'm still working on accepting that He does not have to give us detailed answers).

5. I enjoy horseback riding (even though I've only done it a few times), and would love to own my own horse if I could afford to.

6. I frequently fantasize about leaving the house in the middle of the night, driving to the airport, and flying to a remote beach for about ten days to escape all my responsibilities.

7. My ideal occupation would be to work in an orphanage in a foreign country and rock and sing to babies all day long. Maybe one day I'll get to!

Rebecca's 2nd birthday

Rebecca had a great birthday weekend! It started with an overnight visit Thursday night from Aunt Erin (pregnant with ___ Hope Mangan), Uncle Trey, and Annaliesa. We adults had fun talking, and Rebecca and Annaliesa had fun bouncing around and giggling together.They gave Rebecca her own wheelbarrow and gardening tools for her birthday present (still need to get a picture), which was perfect since Rebecca has been wanting to use mine! And Erin finished making a beautiful quilt (seen here on back of sofa) for our bedroom, which was our five-year anniversary present. Our time was too short...I can't wait to do it again!

Then Gran came on Friday, took us to Sweet Tomatoes for Rebecca's birthday dinner, played at the park with Rebecca, and stayed up late helping us decorate and prepare food for the party on Saturday morning. The theme was "sand and sea," and I thought it came together nicely.

When our party guests arrived (three neighborhood friends), they got to decorate their own sand pail with foam stickers.

Then they got to go fishing, and, along with fish, caught some sunglasses and another sand/water toy. (I have video of this but it hasn't been uploaded yet.) Here is Rebecca in the fishing boat.We opened presents, most of which were books and/or toys with letters (yea!). Then, instead of cake and ice cream (it was a morning party, and I prefer healthier food anyway), we had muffins and a watermelon boat full of fruit, complete with a paper sail.

Finally, it was time to go outside to play with Rebecca's main present: a sand and water table! It was a big hit, but I think in the future we are only going to fill it with either sand OR water at one time...not both. I was a little disappointed that none of the guests remembered to wear their bathings suits, so I didn't get to turn on the big beach ball sprinkler from Gran until after they had all left. And we ran out of time to serve snow cones and goldfish crackers. But there will be plenty of summer playdates coming up for continuing the fun. Thanks to all of you who called and sent cards or emails! Here's our cute 2-year-old...doesn't she look old in this picture?

The gospel according to an almost-two-year-old

Rebecca is becoming more and more capable of combining words. It is especially fun for me to see her repeating ideas that we have tried to instill in her, particularly biblical concepts. Her first exposure to Jesus dying on the cross was in her rhyming toddler Bible, and she picked up on the symbol of the cross pretty quickly and would identify it whenever she saw it (in books, on church buildings, even the letter "t", and the underside of her Mega Blocks).

The past few months we have added a short explanation about the cross whenever she sees one and mentions it, and now she has her own almost-two-years-old version of the gospel that she spouts off whenever she sees a cross. It goes like this: "Cross-Jesus-died-sad-then-rose again-happy!" I know she doesn't fully understand what death is or why Jesus had to die, but it is still encouraging to me to know that she is listening to what we are saying and that God is already at work in her heart.

She also has a very good understanding of obedience and disobedience, and whenever she obeys, she says, "Yea, Rebecca! Obey! Jesus happy! Mommy happy! Daddy happy!" and sometimes extends the happiness to her stuffed animals and/or various aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even babysitters, even if they are not present at the time. And whenever she disobeys, she recognizes that all these same people are sad. Then I pray with her and ask Jesus to help her obey, and afterwards, she says, "Better now." I think this is my favorite part of parenting so far!